Tensions and Potential of Cross-Cultural Teaching Innovations

• In Event: Educational Innovation and Cross-Cultural Teaching and Learning: Seeking Equity Through Policy and Practice

Abstract

Objectives: The prevalence of cross–cultural encounters between students and teachers in schools in globalized societies lends itself to curricular climates that are ripe for the inclusion of a variety of cultural ideas and values in relation to schooling. The experience of teaching in foreign contexts has the potential to influence educators to shape curricula that incorporate multiple cultures and cultures of schooling. However, schools and teachers might unintentionally contribute to perspectives across the curriculum that normalizes majority cultures while enhancing the marginalization of diverse bodies of knowledge and experience. In this presentation, I discuss the findings of a study into the experiences of Canadian teachers who developed themselves professionally across Canada, Japan, and Hong Kong. In particular, I focus on teachers’ stories of experience that indicate some of the possible tensions that may impact the curricular effects of international cross–cultural experiences.
Theoretical Framework: This investigation is a narrative inquiry following the research tradition of Clandinin and Connelly (2000). I drew on the notion of inquiring into experiential stories while building on Dewey’s (1938) conception of the interconnection between education and experience. Additionally, I employed Schwab’s (1969) work on the practical in education to structure a pragmatic inquiry into cross–cultural teaching. Research on cross–cultural teaching and learning also supported my investigation of the tensions and potential of cross–cultural teaching innovations (Cushner & Brennan, 2007; Garii & Schlein, 2011; Phillion et al., 2008; Walters, Garii, & Walters, 2009).
Methods and Data Sources: Over the course of my investigation I interacted with three participants via five 90–minute informal, tape–recorded interviews. I logged extensive technical and reflective field notes following all interviews. Following data collection, I reviewed all field notes and interview transcriptions to uncover common narrative themes.
Results: My inquiry results highlight how although cross–cultural teaching might be a useful way to prepare for work in diverse schools, the potential of intercultural teaching may be challenged due to pressure to conform to the societal expectations of local educational stakeholders. In the face of societal and institutional pressure, my data displays how some cross–cultural teachers might choose to struggle to find a path for cross–cultural teaching. At the same time, other cross–cultural teachers might attempt to fit in to culturally prescribed professional roles.
Scholarly Significance of the Study: Few studies examine the experiences of in–service or novice educators who teach abroad. Even less qualitative research explores the impact of such experiences on teachers’ practices upon re–entry. This study is significant, since it comprises a narrative investigation of novice teachers’ cross–cultural experiences, including those related to professional re–entry within the home country. My participants’ stories show the ongoing need to examine the tensions of intercultural teaching in order to bring about understanding and acceptance of the value of cross–cultural knowledge and experience for improving the curriculum that students from a variety of backgrounds live on in–and out–of–school landscapes.

Author

• Candace M. Schlein, University of Missouri - Kansas City